Packapalooza Thank You!

Just one week ago we were ready to head into another amazing NC State event called #Packapalooza. In it’s third year as the newest annual event, Packapalooza has grown exponentially in participation with an estimated 55,000 attending throughout the day and 10,000 for the end of the night. Three new zones were added this year, all well received. Our Senior Class and Young Alumni now have places to network and socialize as a formal part of the event. This was in collaboration with McDaid’s restaurant and La Rancherita restaurant respectively. The third zone focused on service at NC State and in the local community. Participants had the opportunity to learn about organizations like the Dance Marathon, Habitat for Humanity, and our own Feed the Pack (FTP) food pantry. We also constructed a canned food wall creating a “Can Do” image, along with collecting 60 pounds of food for the FTP Food Pantry.

It is a surreal experience thinking about how many people are involved in making Packapalooza a reality and then the sheer number of people the event touches. I am honored to serve as one of the leaders and would like to thank the PACK of amazing volunteers who helped to plan and execute this event for NC State. We are so fortunate to have service-minded staff and students at NC State, and more so within DASA. This event would just not be possible without the hundreds of volunteers leading up to Packapalooza and on the day of the event. For those that helped with the event, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. A successful leader surrounds him/herself with talented, passionate, hard working people and that is exactly what I did. As they say, it takes a village and a strong team.

Packapalooza is the largest NC State event, nearing in size to a football game. We hope that everyone had a wonderful day and will remember the memories for a long time to come. Whether you learned how to use a potters wheel, watched aerial acrobatics, listened to great music, chatted with friends, played plinko, pulled DNA strands from a strawberry, danced in the street, climbed a rock wall, took a photo with Tuffy, got a tattoo, sipped a drink from a pineapple, got an autograph from one of our athletes, watched Scotty McCreery on stage, or saw the Belltower light up red, we hope you felt like a member of the Wolfpack community.

If you missed the event, mark your calendars for Saturday August 22, 2015. Have a great year and Go Pack!

Best,
Justine